Top five checklist for curated content

In the quest to create a steady stream of content that informs and alerts readers, many content marketers forget to create truly findable and shareable curated content.

Assuming that simply because your words are out there people will want to read them is not the right mantra in a content marketing world. So before you post your next blog, honestly ask yourself whether your content is going to be a) easy to find and b) worthy of sharing.

Know your audience

The last time you shared a blog, chances are you were desperate for someone else to read it because it was funny, entertaining and relevant. Curated content that engages as well as entertains is going to be worthy of sharing and can be achieved through catering to readers’ interests, hobbies and habits.

Headlines

Never underestimate the power of a punchy headline. A headline that interests readers is the easiest way to engage them from the get-go and possibly hold their attention right up to the last sentence. More importantly, headlines will stand out in social media feeds, potentially attracting more reads and shares. Remember not to babble – a useable headline shouldn’t be wordy and it should never run over two lines.

Visual appeal

Blogaholics are not interested in reading pages with big blocks of text and no images. Quirky pictures and videos can work wonders for the visual appeal of a page, canincrease the share-ability of a blogand make it more appealing to a wider range of social pages, such as Pinterest.

Cater to their curiosity

Curiosity does not kill the cat in a content marketing world, and is in fact a neat little trick to engage readers and maybe even get a share or two. Let’s face it, content that is exciting, new and maybe even weird is always going to create a stir. Always be mindful of the fact that your content will need to be intriguing enough to make it through the clutter of other blogs talking about the same thing.

Make sharing easy

In a desperate attempt to create shareable content, some bloggers forget to include sharing tools (Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc.) on their page – ironic, isn’t it? Remember that readers are not inclined to do you any favours by hunting around for a share button, so make their job easy by placing sharing tools well within their reach.